When I saw today that LucasArts is indeed making JK 2, I just went crazy! There are so many questions I have about this game, but from what I've read this game is still top secret, which explains why nobody heard about this in advance. This also means that we probably won't see anyone but LucasArts showing off gameshots on their webpage. Hopefully in the next few days we will get some screenshots, and if we are really lucky we'll find out more specific details (i.e. levels, weapons, force powers, characters, etc.). Let's hope LucasArts has made one hell of a first-person shooter for the PC!!!

"Star Wars Jedi Outcast: Jedi Knight II picks up several years after Katarn successfully avenged his father and defended the Valley of the Jedi from powerful Jerec and his group of Dark Jedi. Katarn has since abandoned his allegiance to the Force for fear that he might fall prey to the temptations of the Dark side. However, as fate would have it Katarn learns of a powerful new Dark Jedi who must be prevented from creating a technology to harness the power of the Force. Katarn's destiny and the future of the Star Wars galaxy once again hang in the balance as he confronts his dark past to face another seemingly insurmountable evil."

More about the plot in the press release on the webpage. Plus a pic of kyle now.

7-8 years after RotJ, right after Leviathan comic: Jedi Outcast: Jedi Knight II.

My reasoning? Ok, he has his quest for revenge, in which he kills Jerec and all that.

For the next five years, we're not really sure what he's doing, but by the time that those five years are up, we know that: a)he's attained the rank of captain in some division of the NR, be it the military, or intel or whatever, and b) that he's a renowned enough Jedi that Mara sought him out to teach her the basics of being a Jedi (this was before the praxeum. They go off to altyr 5, he teaches her to fight and think like a Jedi, but then he finds the reference to the Sith Temple on Dromuund Kaas, goes to investigate and is lured to the Dark Side. Mara goes, snaps him out of it, this is shortly after the events of DE. So Kyle, realizing the extent of his susceptibility to the DS after his informal, vengeful rise to the level of Jedi KNight, entrusts his 'saber to Luke and essentially stops using the Force, although he stays on Yavin IV to learn how to be a Jedi the right way. Then he finds out about this new threat and gets his 'saber back. That's why we see him in his cameo in Leviathan, training with other students, and that's why he didn't stand out enough to get mention in I, Jedi or JAT -- because he didn't have his lightsaber with him, and he was just kind of laying low and self-reflecting while there. So this game's best fit, from what we know, would be after Darksaber and immediately after Leviathan.

7 years after RotJ, kyle katarn enroles at the jedi academy as a first year student, he is also a New Republic Commander at this time.

8 years after RotJ, Kyle katarn battles the imperial forces along side other jedi. Because of dorsk 81 suggestion,Kyle Katarn and other jedi help focus energy into dorsk 81, saving the Jedi Academy from the Daala's fleet.

10 years after RotJ, right after Leviathan comic: Jedi Outcast: Jedi Knight II.

One note, the training in leviathan, kyle was using his lightsaber. It was luke reminenicing the past, so kyle was training with the sabre before leviathan.

When you activate the saber, the camera automatically switches to a third-person perspective, much like the way it did in Jedi Knight. While it'll be possible to wield the lightsaber in first-person mode, LucasArts says that saber control is much easier to achieve while in the third-person perspective. Most of his lightsaber techniques are taken directly from Jedi Knight--such as automatically deflecting laser bolts--but Katarn does have a new use for his handheld weapon: saber throw.